Hey YouTube, Alex here.
And in today's video, I want to cover something kind of controversial.
And this is a video topic that's probably going to bother some people.
Other people are going to think, "Wow, that's obvious to me." Uh, let me know what you think down in the comments after you get a chance to watch it.
So anyway, um the topic of today's video is the dirty little secret of young expats or you could say young passport bros, let's say guys in their 20s and 30s living overseas.
And I'm making this video because I've gotten a lot of push back.
I also noticed a lot of people saying, uh, oh no, you can't do that.
You're too young.
I also noticed in a Thailand specific Facebook group I was in, an expat had taken a photo of some younger guys on laptops in a cafe uh in a certain popular city in Thailand and was basically using it to try to make fun of them and they got called out like, "Oh, you know, don't be bitter and angry just cuz somebody has figured out uh or is trying to figure out how to do the expat life at a younger age." And I wanted to address something that came to mind after I reflected on it and thought about different experiences and that is the factor of generational wealth or the potential for inheriting a business or real estate as far as young people go.
So one of the common critiques I hear from a lot of expats is that oh you can only do it once you're retired.
And I totally respect guys that they wait until they're fully financially ready.
They wait until they're collecting a pension.
They've got real estate income.
They've got stocks that are paying them uh every quarter.
However they want it.
Maybe they got precious metals.
However they want to pay for their expat life in a responsible manner.
They're not going over and crashing and burning uh running out of money asking people, "Hey, can you help me pay my rent?" And I'm all for that.
I'm all for responsibility, accountability.
If you're somebody that's delayed gratification and sacrificed for financial freedom, more power to you.
Uh but one of the things that I hear a lot from some people is they want to gatekeep expat life or living abroad to only people who uh are at retirement age.
And one of the things that I noticed uh when I talked to some of the younger guys I met in Southeast Asia, and it's also readily apparent from some of the YouTube channels I've watched, is that some of the younger guys, they don't really have to pursue a traditional career because they're set up to take over some kind of business, real estate venture, and investment portfolio.
I'm not saying this goes for all of them uh or even 50% of them, but there's I would say many out there that are in this position where uh their bigger sort of goal in life should be to just maintain wealth, right?
rather than to uh rather than need to try to uh work in a specific career field and make a lot of sacrifices to move up uh they basically they're set up and I know this really bothers some people because they're thinking I worked my whole life for this and it's unfair that somebody else can uh basically have the you know skip a few steps uh to get to expat at life.
And I'm not here to debate the merit of this or the demmerit of this or whether it's fair or not fair.
I'm not one of those super envious people.
Like I see, you know, you've got a nice car.
More power to you.
Like I'm happy for you.
I drive a normal Camry.
Um you might be driving a Porsche or uh you know, some kind of high-end car.
I'm not one of those, oh man, that guy's bad.
No.
Like I'm happy for you.
Just like if I hear about one of these uh CEOs, Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg, uh doing a big deal or having a big jump in stock price.
Awesome.
You know, they're working hard and they're getting rewarded for it.
Uh but I don't feel that that translates a lot to when you see some of these younger guys that don't necessarily have to put in the same amount of work as some other people because they've got that fall back option.
I mean, one of the first examples comes to mind is this guy that's a uh was basically living in the same community as my stepdad.
And this guy came from a fairly affluent farming family and he was messed up, right?
He enjoyed uh drinking too much, let's say.
Well, it got to the point where his family just put him on an allowance.
are like, "Look, if you're trying to work in the family business, if you're trying to work outside of the family business, you're going to run us up a bunch of legal bills.
We're going to have to bail you out.
You're going to cause issues." They care about their family member.
They don't want to just abandon this guy.
So, they're like, "Okay, we're just going to put you on an allowance and we're going to beg you to stay out of trouble because uh whatever you do, like trying to be productive, you're just going to end up causing problems." And I'm not likening all young expats to this guy, but this is the case for a fair amount of younger guys.
They're being trained or they were brought up to maintain the wealth.
So, learn how to handle property management, learn how to uh manage investments, learn how to live within their means.
And let's say they're going abroad to cheaper country.
It's a lot easier to live at a modest budget in Southeast Asia, Latin America, um you know, other parts of the world, maybe the Balkans, than it is to live in the US.
US, your baseline expenses are very high.
and if nothing else, you're going to need to work just to have health insurance.
So, you're spending all this time um trying to get ahead.
And it's kind of gotten to the point in the US for a lot of people cuz I talked to a friend of mine about this.
He said the challenge in the west today in 2025 is that people no longer work to get ahead as much as they work to not fall behind.
So they work to maintain their position almost like we use the phrase in expat communities a lot hamster wheel.
Uh and so basically what some people have figured out is like okay why would I basically grind and grind and grind to maintain my position when I could go over to this other country and live far below my means.
About half the people in the millennial generation are already getting help, financial support from their parents or grandparents, extended family.
I know a lot of guys my age still living with their parents.
I'm not judgmental.
I wish I could do that.
I'm not in a position to enjoy uh such a luxury, but I have friends that are.
And I say more power to you because uh it ain't easy out there.
I mean, it's, you know, things are just really expensive and rent super high.
And if you're not having to pay all that money just to enrich a landlord, like go for it.
But you know, the baby boomer generation is the wealthiest generation in history in the United States in particular, probably the wealthiest group of people, large group of people that's ever lived in the history of the planet.
So, uh, if they're able to help out younger generations through generosity, through kindness, which many people with children want to help their kids out, they want to help make their kids their the lives of their kids better, not just materially, but also um, you know, in many different ways.
So, so there there's that common trope.
They're the first generation to not want um their kids to do as well as them.
I don't think that applies in all cases.
In fact, I know a lot of boomers that actually do care about the success or well-being of their kids.
I've known some who have helped to get their kids a house.
I know some I know many who have put their kids through college.
Uh it's not uncommon to hear about these things.
So, you know, I noticed like when I uh talk to some of the young guys living in Southeast Asia, it's like, well, yeah, you know, my dad works for this business.
He's pretty high up.
He's doing well.
Like, we also have uh some rentals, whatever it is.
Why is it such a problem that they can enjoy this life abroad and it still be financially viable?
Um, I get that there's envy people.
Well, I worked all this time to get to there and they don't have to.
And I was in this position uh in different expat hotspots where I had a number of guys come up to me, I'm jealous that you're here at your age and uh I wish I would give anything to be here at your age as opposed to be to retirement age.
I don't feel that way, by the way.
Like I think that people of all ages should be able to enjoy expat destinations assuming they're adults and uh you know they what's they there's the word informed consent.
They know the risks of being in a foreign country.
They know the potential dangers.
They're familiar with the laws.
That kind of thing.
Um but I heard that a lot.
I just thought don't be envious.
like I part of the reason I pursued living overseas is because I don't have um a strong relationship with my family.
I mean, my folks are long gone and uh I'm just not close to the rest of my family.
So, I I don't want to say I envy, but I really admire the people who do have close families who don't feel the need to go live overseas for a while because uh they value that proximity to their family.
they're they're uh getting a lot like as far as just like they love their families, you know.
So, um that's one of those things where I just wanted to talk about it because I I hear a lot you need to go back and work and for a decent amount of us young guys, yeah, that's like right on the money.
I mean, I'm starting a new job like this week or next week.
I'm not going to describe what that is, although if you know me personally, you've heard me talk about it.
Uh, but there are other young guys that like they're not in that position.
And I look at it like more power to your family for making wise financial decisions, for living below their means, uh, buying real estate, buying stocks, uh, trying, you know, grandparents as well.
Like I worked with a guy whose grandfather owned real estate in San Francisco.
Uh, this guy's grandfather basically let the guy rent this apartment for like the cost of I think property taxes which were really low.
This guy's paying a couple hundred bucks a month uh in rent in San Francisco, one of the most expensive cities in the world where if he was paying market rate, he'd be paying like three grand a month.
And uh you know some of the guys that were gave him a hard time about it, but the reality is like don't we all don't we all wish we had that kind of good fortune?
And I I just like I know a lot of parents and grandparents out there, they want their kids to be happy and if they're being honest, they see how much harder it is to live in the West today in 2025 than it was say 40, 50, 60 years ago.
So it's I mean I think you have to be willfully ignorant to not acknowledge that the uh there's been wage stagnation in the western democracy such that capital is much more powerful than labor and like as far as just control goes.
Uh things keep going up in price but wages stay flat and uh so you're not necessarily like getting ahead in the same way uh that you could in the past.
I'm not saying you can't get ahead at all.
Obviously, a lot of people still want to move to the US, Australia, Canada less so it seems and you know, but they still these countries still remain quite attractive from an from an opportunity perspective.
But, uh, for those who have already taken advantage of opportunity, who have built generational wealth, I just don't understand why there's this heavy critique of, oh, they need to Yeah.
I I had one guy tell me I needed to or I had a few guys tell me you need to go back to America and pay for my social security.
And one of them was a good friend of mine.
He's teasing me.
He's just giving me a hard time.
But a few were like serious like what are you doing here enjoying life?
You need to be doing your part so I get to enjoy life.
And so it just reminded me of this um speech at the last company I worked at, the last tech company.
The CEO gave a speech to our company and he specifically said, "Part of the reason I founded this company was to create generational wealth.
I want my family to be able to enjoy a certain level of financial security and uh material wealth and enjoyment of life that we couldn't if I hadn't started this company." This guy poured his heart and soul into this company.
This is like I think 13 or 14 years into him like having 12 or 13 years in after he founded the company, built it up to IPO, IPOed and uh basically built a net worth and the nine figures uh roughly I've calculated uh probably like1 to $200 million net worth.
do his kids need to go, you know, work some random job or grind and grind.
Um, he talked about being able to take his kids out to concerts, be able to pay for his kids' apartments.
Like, he was very public about this.
And I know once again, some people were envious because not everybody gets to found a company like this and and create wealth on that level.
But I never once, you know, went up to the CEO, "How dare you pay for your kids' apartment?
How dare you, you know, take your uh kids to front row concert tickets in San Francisco?
Like, I just thought, how cool.
Like, this guy worked really hard, had a really cool idea, um, overcame a lot of objections and people telling him no, naysayers, and did something really remarkable and also created a lot of wealth for a lot of employees uh, and did something really big.
So, um, yeah, I I'm hope I'm not getting too long-winded here, but I just noticed people saying all these young guys need to go back home and they're going to be hard up and they're going to vote Democrat and raise our taxes.
And it's like, you don't really fully understand like you're not the only person with money.
And that's one of the common tropes I kind of notice uh among some people in uh the older generations.
In my generation, they they operate on this premise.
I'm the only person with money.
I'm the only person with money.
It's like, no, if you're in a western democracy, there's a lot of people with money.
There's a lot of successful people.
They're very common in the West.
Um, very, very common to see successful people in older generations and they can decide what they want to do, right?
If they want to empower their kid to go have an adventure, um, why not?
You know, one of the channels I mentioned my last video, Analyzing Finance with Nick, he talked about how he went and studied abroad uh in Europe and I I did my study abroad in the Middle East.
Like that was uh based on the generosity of of people in my life and I am great extremely grateful for that.
I don't uh I don't look down on people who don't have those experiences.
I I think that I'm very fortunate to have been able to travel to all the places I've traveled.
Uh to be able to take some of the risks that I've taken.
I've had a number of business failures.
But uh we want to encourage risk takingaking and people doing different things.
And if uh a young person knows somewhat what they're getting into and wants to go live an expat life, like more power to them.
you know the there's so much excess in the western democracies.
We have subsidized housing.
We have food banks.
We have um subsidized community college.
We have so many things that are free.
And people look at free as a bad thing.
And it's like why is charity like a bad thing?
Isn't it awesome that these societies are so wealthy that they have access?
Like there's a number of countries in the world that totally rely or heavily rely on donations from the United States, from Australia, from Canada, from the UK.
Uh because those countries are not as materially wellto-do.
They had different kinds of problems that prevent them uh from succeeding in the same way that some other countries have.
I don't look at those countries and say, "Oh, we need to just stop sending them extra food." like we don't, you know, the thing in the west today like we don't really have the problem as much these days of people not having enough.
It's really having like too much.
Um, you know, if I'm struggling with my weight, it's not that I don't have enough to eat, it's I have too much to eat.
Uh, if I'm, you know, there there's just so many instances like if I in some cases, not I know not all cases, but if I have too much debt, I don't have not enough to buy.
I've I've chosen to purchase too much.
And so anyway, I just um I wanted to give an alternative to this narrative of uh you're too young to become an expat.
You know, Tim Ferrris talks about like, hey, you should take many retirements throughout your life if you can pull it off.
Tim Ferrris wrote the 4-hour work week and he said, you don't know that you're going to be healthy when you're older.
You don't know if you're going to have different obligations that tie you down.
Of course, there's some balance that's needed there.
can't just vacation.
Most people can't just afford to vacation from 18 to retirement age.
Uh but you know, a lot of us are skeptical of being able to rely on social security.
A lot of people in my generation, we're we're skeptical it's still going to be around.
Uh we, you know, we have more caution about that.
And I think a lot of us want to live more in the moment.
I mean, it seems like growing up every couple years there was a once in a-lifetime uh crisis.
We went from uh 9/11 to the global war on terror to the 2008 financial collapse to um you know I well there was COVID but I know there was something I think there was like a mini recession from 2015 to 2016.
Um, so there were all these different crises and you're only going to be able to uh count on the present moment.
And so I I think it's great to be able to try to travel to some other countries when you're young, when you're healthy, uh when you have less responsibility tying you down.
I don't believe in a one-sizefits-all.
Like everybody should wait until traditional retirement age to enjoy life.
I know some people uh constantly warn about the potential downsides, but they don't understand there's a lot of wealth that's been built in this country um over the last century, but even the last few decades.
And a lot of people are, you know, they talk about the destruction of the middle class.
They operate on the premise people have only moved down, but actually a lot of people have moved up.
And a lot of those people that have moved up have kids.
they they want to provide opportunities or lifestyle choices that uh they didn't have.
Anyway, let me know what you think down in the comments below.
I'm going to go ahead and wrap this up.
Um do you think that it's uh you know, my observations are on point?
Do you think that I'm not making a lot of sense?
Feel free to share this with other people in the expat community or would be expats or people that are just curious about people that choose to live overseas.
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And um we'll see you soon.
Bye-bye.
